His World, Scented Red
by StarShine SoBright
Summary: Conner buys a cologne that is made with Red Kryptonite and now he's acting strange. TimKon, Slight Conner/Cassie. Rated for language and slight explicit content.


A/N: For the TimKon kink meme. Conner is influenced by Red Kryptonite (based off the Smallville universe but with the story still comicverse). Takes place pretty much anytime after Conner comes back from the dead. Oops. Spoilers. Not beta'd, I might fix it up later but I've been working on it all day so meh.

**His World, Scented Red**

"Conner, sweetheart, why don't you take a break and go browse the booths for a bit. You've been a great help and deserve a break." Ma Kent gave her nephew a smile after she finished collecting the payment from a customer. Conner placed the box of corn he was holding down on the table and frowned.

"I don't really need to…" Conner responded as he looked around. The Smallville County Fair was an annual event for local businesses, and a rather large one at that. Conner, despite disliking the calm ways of Smallville and its farming culture, had agreed to help as long as no Teen Titan emergencies popped up. Unfortunately, they hadn't and he was stuck doing manual labor for the Kent farm. Not that he hated helping out, but he would rather be kicking bad guy butt than kissing up to random strangers, who somehow knew him, so he could sell their product.

Ma shook her head. "You deserve a break. Go look around, you might find something interesting."

"It's best to listen to her, Son," Pa Kent interjected, "She always gets what she wants." He smiled at his wife and she returned it with a playful smirk.

Conner shrugged. Why fight a losing battle. Who knows, there might be something interesting in this small town. "Okay, I'll be back in…?"

"An hour would be nice." Ma said as Pa had turned to a customer.

"An hour." Conner repeated as he ducked out of the booth.

Everything at the fair was either food, art, or some promotion for local events and groups. Many had tried to stop Conner with the simple line of: "You're that Kent boy, right?" before they proceeded to play the sales advocate. Conner didn't know these people and it was aggravating to have them pretend to know him just to take his money.

"Hey kid, you look like a boy who likes to attract the ladies, why don't you try some of this cologne? Women love it." Well, at least this one used a new tactic.

Conner slanted his eyes at the sales lady at the booth. She was dressed in gypsy garb-excessive jewelry and flowing shirts and skirts. She jingled as she held up a perfume bottle with a red liquid inside.

Conner rolled his eyes. "Thanks, but no. I'm not into perfume."

The lady frowned, taking offence. "Cologne is different from perfume, and _my_ cologne is even better than normal cologne. All natural, made by yours truly. C'mon kid, I'll let you try it."

"No Tha—" before Conner could even stop the woman, she sprayed him about throat level. He accidentally breathed in the product, a light musty scent filling his senses. It was surprisingly nice for perfume.

Conner blinked a few times as he adjusted to the scent and it's almost calming effect. He felt free, like he'd finally rid himself of invisible shackles.

He smirked at the lady and she smiled back. She knew she had caught him.

"How much?" He pulled out his wallet.

"Is it just me or is Conner being… weird." Cassie leaned close to Tim to whisper, hoping the subject matter wouldn't use his super hearing to eavesdrop.

Tim, cowl down, raised an inquiring eyebrow. So he wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Not that there's anything wrong with it. I mean, it's kind of refreshing. He's almost acting like his old self, you know?" She continued, smiling nostalgically. She seemed to do that more often ever since Conner death. "Back how he was during our Young Justice days."

Tim nodded. Yes, Conner seemed unreserved. He was openly flirting with Cassie again, despite the rocky state their relationship had been since his return. And he was back to being n best buddy mode with himself, despite the awkward air that had plagued their friendship since Conner found out about his little "affair" with Cassie. He didn't know if he was okay with this change or not.

Their conversation was cut short as Bart appeared and started harassing them to play a game with the rest of the group. Cassie folded only after making sure to keep the alert on in case of emergency, and Tim followed quietly behind.

When Conner had arrived at the tower, he had that old smirk he used to don during their younger years. From that moment, Tim had noticed a change. It was his detective instincts to notice any and all changes, even the simplest ones. Not that he wasn't slightly more interested in Conner changes—he was his best friend, he had to keep an eye on him. But his keen eye had obviously picked up on something as he noticed more and more uncharacteristic behavior changes.

First, he had grabbed Cassie around the waist and had given her a rather deep kiss, one a bit too intimate for their current relationship status and their audience.

Second, He was more reckless than usual during their training exercises. He doubted Cassie had noticed that one, considering the difference than usual behavior was only slight. But if Tim had learned anything under Batman, it was always taking note of the smallest details.

Lastly, he had smiled at him. And not just any smile. It was borderline flirtatious, like the ones he had seen Conner give Cassie before they started dating. Conner smile had been more reserved towards him, especially when Cassie was around. But Cassie was standing right next to him. It was more than unnerving, and sent the red flag straight into the air.

Something had changed in Conner, and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

Conner had never felt so great in his life. He didn't even other obsessing over trying to be less like Lex Luthor because for some reason, he didn't care anymore. And things with Cassie were going great. Granted, she was kind of being reserved despite them having already rounded all the bases in the barn loft. But fine, whatever. She was still sporting a fresh hickey on her neck as she tidied herself up to look less like she had just been making out.

Conner grabbed her by the belt loops and tugged her towards him. She made a disapproving noise but still allowed him to maneuver her. He buried his nose into her hair and said, "Why don't you get someone else to be on duty. We just got started."

She pushed him off gently with a frown. "You know I can't do that."

Conner rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Her frown deepened. She was about to open her mouth until someone from behind her had cleared their throat. The two turned to see Red Robin in the door way, his arms crossed and looking less than amused.

Cassie unhinged Conner's hands and walked out of the room, her eyes avoiding Tim.

When she was out of hearing range, Tim spoke. "Could you contain yourselves to your rooms? The living room is for everyone."

Conner crossed his arms in defiance. "No one was around. It shouldn't matter."

"I was around."

"Watching are we? Still the little freak, aren't you." Conner's smirk was wide and Tim had the urge to smack it right off. But, as every proper Bat should, he kept his calm but strong demeanor.

"That is besides the point Conner. Your actions lately have been brash, impulsive, and overall crude. Cassie is uncomfortable with this behavior, as are the rest of us." Tim scolded as he walked over to Conner, stepping just over Conner's personal boundary to exert his dominance.

Conner sneered. "What do you care? Jealous? You know she only made out with you because she was lonely."

Tim didn't react.

"Or would you prefer to be in her place." His features turned feral and Tim fought harder to keep a stoic composure. "I see the way you watch us Tim. I can _hear_ the way your heart changes when I'm around. I used to think it was Cassie, but I'm not so sure anymore." He reached over and ran his fingers down the exposed area of Tim's cheek. "Like right now."

Tim held his breath and Conner laughed.

"How long have you felt this way Tim?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tim willed his body to obey.

"You're not supposed to lie to your best friend Tim."

"And you're not supposed to act like this _Conner._"

The alert went off. Trouble was brewing.

Conner smirked. "We'll continue later."

Tim had been in investigation mode for two weeks now, and he was no closer to finding the truth. He had ruled out the possibility of Conner being replaced by Match and the unlikely happening of the Luthor gene kicking in again. It was beginning to worry him. Maybe this was just a normal change. Maybe Conner really did somehow flip personalities. Maybe he was just finally breaking down from the pressure.

Tim hoped that wasn't the case.

"There must be something different…" He muttered as he leapt to the next building, his night patrol coming to an end soon.

"Do you need assistance?" The piece in his ear buzzed at him.

He shook his head unnecessarily. "Ah, sorry Oracle, just thinking out loud."

"That's fine," Babs electronic voice replied. "What's on your mind?"

"Something…personal." Tim replied.

Babs laughed. "Of course. Well, just some advice. When it comes to personal affairs, going straight to the source is the best choice."

Tim sighed defeated. He was attempting to avoid one on one confrontations with Conner ever since their last encounter. He could still remember that sweet musty smell from their last encounter, one he hadn't remembered Conner smelling like before. "Thank you."

Tim finished his round and headed straight to Smallville.

It hadn't taken long to arrive at the Kent farm, despite the distance. Having access to the best equipment in the world always came in handy when you didn't have super speed or flight. Tim had changed into regular clothes before her went up to the front door and knocked. School nights were strictly no superhero activities—an emergency being the exception—and Tim was respectful of the Kent house rules.

Ma Kent opened the door and her smile grew impossibly wide. "Tim!" She said as she hugged him tight. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too, Mrs. Kent."

"What did I tell you?"

"I'm sorry. Ma."

She beckoned him in. "Conner is in the Barn doing lord knows what. He's been so strange lately… Do you know what's wrong with him? I know he's been through a lot, but this change just seems so odd." Her worry was obvious.

Pa walked in with a frown. "It's unnatural. I'm hoping Luthor isn't trying to mess with him again. The boy has enough on his plate."

Tim nodded. "I'm looking into it. Hopefully I'll have results before the end of tonight."

Ma and Pa nodded in return. "Go on, Son." Pa directed him towards the barn.

"I heard you talking to them." Conner said as Tim walked up the stairs, quiet as always. "There isn't anything _wrong_ with me, and I would appreciate it if you'd stop insisting there was." His anger dripped off every word.

Tim stood in front of Conner, the other boy's stronger build and anger doing nothing to intimidate him. "This isn't you."

Conner slanted his eyes. "And what is me? I'm not anything. I'm a clone remember?"

"You're a person, just like the rest of us. The way you were made doesn't change that." Tim looked up into Conner's eyes and had to resist glancing away. It would show weakness. But the way Conner looked at him… it was overpowering.

Conner laughed. "Why do you always have the right response for everything? You're such a freak." But his words weren't mean this time. They were soft and loving. Conner smiled. "Your heart sped up again."

Tim bit his lip. Damn.

Conner wrapped his arms around Tim's waist the shorter male stiffened. Conner placed his head in the dip of the other's neck and brushed his lips against the skin. Tim involuntarily tilted his neck to expose more. "You're not the only one who's thought about this. I've always felt something towards you. I just never realized what it was. When I heard about you and Cassie kissing, I didn't know what I was more mad about—you kissing her or her kissing you."

"Conner, I—" Tim gulped as he felt Conner's teeth which sent shivers straight to his groin. He wanted this so much, more than anyone could ever know. But it wasn't right.

"I think I love you, Tim. And I think you love me too."

Double damn.

He took a deep breath to settle himself, and that strange smell was there again.

Tim chanced turning his head to look back at Conner and Conner looked up. Tim didn't know who moved first but the next thing he knew they were kissing frantically. Within moments Conner lifted him up and placed him down on the futon, positioned between his legs. Tongues and teeth were mixed into the battle as Conner rocked between Tim's legs, rubbing their growing erections against each other. Tim choked back a moan as he rocked to meet Conner slow and painfully arousing thrusts. Conner's large hands slipped into Tim's shirt, pushing it up and over his head, taking a break from their tonsil hockey.

A laugh escaped Conner's lips as he realized Tim, despite being in civilian clothes, was still wearing his utility belt. "Always prepared, aren't you, Robin?" Instead of going back to kissing, Conner dipped down and nibbled lightly at Tim's exposed chest while his hands traveled to his backside to massage his behind.

Tim was biting his lips harshly to resist moaning out. God, this was so much better than his fantasies. In them Conner would have been perfect with every movement, but Conner in real life had to search for the right spots that made Tim buckle. Almost like a detective in an investigation.

Investigation…

Investigating…

Fuck.

Tim pushed Conner off. "Conner, stop. Now." He hated having to be the one to end this perfect moment, but it was all wrong. Conner wasn't right.

Conner paused and looked at him confused. "Why?"

Tim easily maneuvered himself out from underneath Conner and grabbed his shirt. "You're not in your right mind set. You wouldn't do this if you were." He started to pull the shirt on when Conner stopped him by hugging him and kissing his neck again.

"Yes I would. I told you: I love you." Tim slipped out of Conner's embrace and finished putting on his shirt.

"That," Tim looked him straight in the eyes, "is irrelevant. You're dating Cassie right now." It hurt to say it, but Tim couldn't deny the circumstances, even if they were working out in his favor. He didn't want Conner like this. This wasn't his Conner.

Conner frowned. "Who cares about her?"

"I do. You do."

"Not really. All I care about is you right now. So c'mon, let's keep going," He went to pull Tim in but Tim once again slipped out of his grasp. Conner glared and Tim felt himself wrapped in something invisible—tactile telekinesis. Conner Pulled Tim over and tilted his chin up with his fingers. "That's better."

"Conner, you have 5 seconds to let me go." Tim warned his voice dark. Conner just smirked.

"And what can you do? You're powerless." He gave him a chaste kiss which Tim remained immobile to. "Let's continue now."

Tim counted in his head. When he reached the end of the 5 second countdown he said, "Code 23 activate." There was a blinding flash, and in that moment Conner's control had slipped. Tim delivered a swift kick to knock the other prone and quickly fished out a small glowing green crystal out of his belt.

Conner began moaning in pain. But Tim kept a strong will and held the item up. Conner was sweating profusely, his sweat seeming to have a slight red glow to it. Tim kept careful watch as he walked closer and then hit Conner in a pressure point to knock him out. Once Tim was sure Conner was out cold, he placed the green kryptonite back in the lead plated pocket in his utility belt.

Tim crouched down near Conner and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Conner." He then stood up and got to work.

Conner woke up as if he had been dreaming a dream that had gone horribly wrong. It was like he had everything and nothing at the same time. And dear god did he have the worst head ache.

He sat up and stretched his muscles as he let his eyesight adjust to the scene around him.

Tim was sitting a few feet away, in a ready stance to fight.

"Tim?" he choked out in a groggily. "What are you doing here?"

Tim's stance immediately dropped, as if he realized he was safe, which was odd considering they were friends, even if his dream had indicated otherwise. Conner tilted his head in confusion as he noticed Tim was wearing the exact same clothes as the Tim in his dream.

Oh.

_Oh._

Fuck.

Conner shock must have been plastered on his face because spoke up. "Don't worry about it. You weren't yourself. I understand."

Conner pushed himself off the floor quickly and continued to panic. "Did I really—oh god, and we—and you—I almost—"

"Conner. _Settle down."_ Tim's voice was in Red Robin mode, commanding and almost frightening. Conner immediately froze. When Tim saw he had the meta's attention, he continued. "I believe I found the culprit. A red bottle of cologne, do you remember it?"

Conner nodded slowly.

"It's kryptonite-red kryptonite to be exact. I took a sample and it tested to be foreign. I'll do further test to confirm my theory, but it's highly likely that cologne was the culprit." Tim looked out of the window, contemplating something. He turned back to Conner. "Where did you get it?"

Conner thought back. "At the fair. Some lady sold it to me." Tim was well into Robin mode. He was probably already figuring out how to locate and destroy the rest. "I'm sor—"

"Don't."

Tim's look was extremely cold, and Conner felt a shiver run down his spine. God, he messed up so bad. He looked around nervously. Tim was watching him carefully and it was unnerving.

Tim sighed and he was back to being Tim Drake. "You should really apologize to Cassie anyways. She's the one you hurt the most."

Conner looked back to his friend and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah but…" Tim was trying to look composed, and if Conner didn't look hard enough, he might have believed it. "But I still hurt you too. And don't deny it." He stopped Tim before he tried to defend him again. Typical Tim, always thinking of his friends first. "I think… I need to sort stuff out."

Tim nodded in agreement. "I'll be heading out then. It's a school night, and it's already 4 a.m."

Conner moaned. "God, I feel like I didn't get any sleep."

Tim raised an eyebrow and Conner quickly shut up. He then turned and walked down the stairs.

"Tim!" Conner called out before the boy was out of the barn. Tim turned around once more. "We're…We're gonna be okay, right?" Conner hoped he didn't sound too desperate.

Tim smiled reassuringly in return. "Of course, Conner." Conner almost returned the smile until he noticed something off. He watched Tim walk off into the night and felt a dull ache in his heart.

Tim lay back in his bed, his muscles sore from that night's patrol. He had run into a few mishaps, but overall the night seemed quiet. Or as quiet as Gotham ever gets.

His eyes roamed over the papers on his desk. He had gotten the lab results of the cologne back had found that it was indeed Red Kyrptonite. Since then he had gone to the woman who had sold Conner the product, destroyed her supply of Kyroptonite, and threatened the woman into never using the rock as an ingredient again. It was easy to get her to cooperate.

Sometimes he was glad that Bruce had such a distrust in the Super Family, Without his research on all things Kryptonian Tim doubted he would have been able to figure out the cause of Conner's behavior.

He sighed, thinking about his best friend. It had been over a week since the climax of the Red Kryptonite incident, and the only time he'd seen him since then was at Titans Tower. However, he had kept his distance, not wanting to deal with the situation at the moment. Besides, he seemed preoccupied with Cassie and dealing with that mess.

Tim bolted up and tossed a batarang at the window.

"Holy shit Tim!" Conner said as he held the slightly bent item in his hands. His shirt had a slice in the middle of the S-Shield where the batarang had connected.

Tim crossed his arms and let his guard down. "You should know better than to sneak up on me."

Conner rolled his eyes as floated in through the window and dropped the ruined batarang on the ground. "Yeah yeah. You owe me a new shirt."

Tim ignored the comment. "Why are you here? You know Batman doesn't like metas in his city. Especially Supers."

Conner landed and looked around nervously. "Yeah… well… I needed to talk to you." Tim paid close attention. "You know… about… stuff."

Tim nodded. "Stuff," he responded.

"Yeah…" Conner dragged out as he looked anywhere but Tim. Tim waited patiently until Conner's eyes finally connected with his. Conner took a deep calming breath.

"I know I said and did a lot of things under the influence of the Kryptonite…" He rubbed his arm and tugged at the hem of the sleeve as a nervous tick. "Some of them I didn't mean but others... I kinda did."

Tim said nothing, despite Conner's long pause. He wondered if it was fear that Conner would stop if he spoke up or if he was really being a good friend and trying to listen to his friend sort his mind.

Conner stopped moving and said, "Cassie and I broke up. Officially."

Tim tried not to react. He made sure to keep his heart steady so Conner couldn't read him that way. He practiced more ever since the incident.

"Things just weren't the same. I don't think anything can go back to the way they were before I, you know, died." He placed his hands at his said and took another calming breath. "It's not the same for us either."

Tim kept stoic.

"Was I right when I thought you liked me? Because that would pretty damn awesome. Just saying." Conner's face was slightly pink. He was blushing. And Tim's façade dropped right there with a slight smile.

"You could say that." But really, Tim didn't just like Conner, he loved him. He had loved him for years. But that discussion could be left for another day.

Conner smiled brightly. "Can I kiss you then?"

Tim smirked. "Depends. Have you bought any strange substances from weird women lately?"

Conner frowned. Tim would have called it a pout and he laughed at it. He then stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of the red S-shield. Tim pulled harshly and Conner went along for the ride. The kiss was short and sweet, nothing like the desperate ones in the barn. But it was so much better.

"So we're gonna okay, right?" Conner repeated his question from that night.

This time Tim's smile was genuine. "Of course, Conner."


End file.
